Mandarake's a shop for used toys in Japan. Filling out an order refers to their policy to charge 500 yen handling unless you spend at least 5000 yen, so the instinct is to make an order at least that much so the 500 goes to a toy instead of handling.

Ohhh I see. I can understand that logic, makes sense. I usually do the same on various sites to get free shipping.

Other than that, what about it makes it so…addictive? Just really good prices on stuff?

I've been listening to the podcast every now and again (usually on long drives) and I've been wondering something. Hopefully someone can answer:

What's this "mandarakay" addiction that you keep mentioning? I gather that it's some kind of webstore, but what makes it so great? And what's with "filling out an order"?

Sorry if it's a dumb question/has been answered before.

Thanks!

Mandarake's a shop for used toys in Japan. Filling out an order refers to their policy to charge 500 yen handling unless you spend at least 5000 yen, so the instinct is to make an order at least that much so the 500 goes to a toy instead of handling.

Sorry Vangelus, but I have to agree with TJ and Aaron on this. The current IDW TfvsJoe comic just look horrible. I've read the free issue and I just don't want to read the rest of it.

Plus it doesn't help that I'm sick to death of TfvsJoe comics.

I'm not a fan of Tom Scioli's art, he's definitely got a very distinct style to him and I think it's just too big of a departure from the art I prefer in my robits. I also HATE that the alt modes don't match the robot modes, at all… I get that it's like a crazy, Kirby style attempt at Transformers, and I'm buying it cuz I like Transformers, but not sure I'll keep it after I start selling my TF comics. Maybe the last 2 issues will be better. But, with that said, I'm glad you're enjoying it Vangelus. A friend of mine who pretty much hates Transformers has been picking it up solely on the art. So that's a thing that happened.

zandergb

I've said it before and I'll say it again, while being aware of the various reasons why they wouldn't use it: The perfect pre-Earth Tarantulas would be made from Cybertron Dirt Boss. – The wheels provide the vague body shape of the spider legs in both modes– The "speedy" key-activated vehicle mode is wide and low to the ground like a spider– He's got shoulder weapons like Tarantulas's Transmetal form– It matches the rest of the '06 pre-Earth stuff, which I'm sure more people care about than the recent alternate universe BW story

ugh… no, I hate this idea. I love that mold, but the motorcycle is better. I still don't want this Tarantulas though, I think the smaller Cybertron scout motorcyle actually would've been better, but oh well.

I also hate Krok as BH Knock Out, he was a jet kinda looking robot, needs to be a jet. I love how he looks. I'm getting a set, and he's the only one I'm planning on keeping right now. Already sold 2 of the figures too. Hopefully the Legends class figure that comes with TFSS 3 is cool.

Lastly, on the whole 1.0, 2.0, 3.0 thing, I kinda wish each figure was notated with a number, like Chromedome just shipped, he should be 2.5. That would make at least a little sense… but yeah, otherwise the point zero stuff is nonsense.

soybean56

Fun episode, but I have to ask a question. How is Nerf Rebele a step forward for gender equality? It's a girls line directed explicitly at girls and is an explosion of pinks and pastels as per the norm for girls toys. Just curious why you think this is a great step forward, Vangelus? It seems to be your go-to example of toy companies needing to stop marketing boys vs. girls.

Also, the vitriol of MP Star Saber and Exhaust is hilarious.

I've kinda wondered this as well, but I can see the process. It's still clearly aimed at girls, but it's at least got the showing that girls can be just as tough as boys… also, after all the NERF talk from Aaron, et all over the years, I want a pink NERF gun just because it'd be awesome. and I want the cool looking zombie gun too.

zandergb

Lego Friends isn't "the Lego for girls", it's Lego designed and marketed to hopefully bring in a consumer demographic to the brand that wanted pastels and cute animals before they considered buying the product. Not only has Lego had girls as part of packaging and promotion for non-Friends sets long before Friends came along, Friends isn't even Lego's first run at doing this sort of theme. Lego isn't forcing girls to only get Friends sets, but they are putting another option out there.

Nerf could definitely do better with being gender-neutral in packaging and advertisement (for both "regular" Nerf and Nerf Rebelle), but Rebelle is a start in the right direction. Change can unfortunately take time.

Agreed.

Last thing, I ran the numbers on FunPub and their heads/new parts & fan reaction. I'll try to post the thread about it in the next day or two.

Once again, technology keeps advancing, maybe tomorrow people would find a brand new matter; you can deform it conveniently, then lock its form as well as unbreakable; and it can be solid/bendy and good-looking and paint-able etc. Who knows? LOL

But in that case, shouldn't there only be one Nerf brand that's marketed equally to boys and girls rather than Nerf and Nerf Rebelle? Otherwise Nerf Rebelle seems to me the same as Lego branching into Lego Friends for girls

Lego Friends isn't "the Lego for girls", it's Lego designed and marketed to hopefully bring in a consumer demographic to the brand that wanted pastels and cute animals before they considered buying the product. Not only has Lego had girls as part of packaging and promotion for non-Friends sets long before Friends came along, Friends isn't even Lego's first run at doing this sort of theme. Lego isn't forcing girls to only get Friends sets, but they are putting another option out there.

Nerf could definitely do better with being gender-neutral in packaging and advertisement (for both "regular" Nerf and Nerf Rebelle), but Rebelle is a start in the right direction. Change can unfortunately take time.

Listening back to the 3D printer talk this morning I came to a better analogy as to why I don't think that 3D printing factories for large quantities are going to be a thing for quite a while, if at all.

Look at 2D printing. Almost everyone has a printer at home, and that technology has gotten better since ribbon ink and tractored pages. And the prospect of printing off a binder's worth of paper isn't as daunting as it would have been 20 years ago. But if you were going to print 100 binders of the same thing out, you'd probably go to a print shop because they have better technology in a high speed laserjet. Now if you had to print 10,000 or more of those binders, you'd probably look into getting them bound into a book and taking care of it that way, and they wouldn't likely use a fancy laserjet but an honest to goodness press. Because having a set slate removes QC issues and lets you do the same repetitive thing over and over again at a higher rate of speed.

Had a similar discussion elsewhere months ago, and I totally agree with you.
3D-printing does sound a lot more innovative than it really is nowadays LOL
It is advancing fast. It is innovative as a concept for us to look forward to. But this technology is still far too young.
It requires a lot more break-thoughs to perform the "magic" we all dream of.

Popularized mass production in 30 years? 60 years? Nah, I don't think it could.
The major difference between mass production and a small amount is not only the quantity:
The defective rate! [0 A 0]!!!

Say you print three Pony figures. One has some issues. Dump/fix it, no big deal.
If you print three thousand, and 1/3 is not perfect…Fans who's been buying unlicensed 3rd party stuff should all know better.

I believe the softwares and printers can evolve a lot in next 30 years. But in any printing technology, the "ink" has always been the most challenging spot.

And despite all the types of plastic and their unique behaviors …
You see, in order to produce plastic parts in great quantity with sophisticated accuracy, we need not only heavy ass steel molds and giant injection machines,
but also experienced operators to maintain the precise injecting speed and temperature.
With any slight miss, the parts' form/texture/color/endurance etc. can end up in any screwed way possibly imagined.
Also, there are various classes for steel molds and injection machines, will result different qualities accordingly.

Of course these are problems of the old technology, however, it's been developed and refined for many decades, yet such sophistication can still not reduce defective percentage to 0%.
The process of melting one raw material then reforming it into an exact shape, in any way, by any method, is just too delicate, and too easy to be disturbed.

And this is just about toys.

Once again, technology keeps advancing, maybe tomorrow people would find a brand new matter; you can deform it conveniently, then lock its form as well as unbreakable; and it can be solid/bendy and good-looking and paint-able etc. Who knows? LOL

It's a blurring and taking down of what once was a very solid decades-long "this is boys toys" dividing line in a main IP of a large toy company, struck me as forward thinking and creating a clear marketed statement from the ground level up that Nerf's for everyone.

But in that case, shouldn't there only be one Nerf brand that's marketed equally to boys and girls rather than Nerf and Nerf Rebelle? Otherwise Nerf Rebelle seems to me the same as Lego branching into Lego Friends for girls or the 12" GI Joes of the 1960s as dolls for boys. The Treasure Trolls of the 1990s had equally pushed boys and girls versions as well. It's just a company seeing a potential profit and seeking it out.

Either way, it's an important topic that should be discussed. I'm glad the podcast can, in some small way, get the conversation going.

My mother was the one in charge of stocking the cigarette ending machine at work when I was a kid. We used to get tons of free stuff by sending in the box tops for Marlboro, Cool and other brands. No one in my house smoked, but I went to school with my books in a "Cool" bag. We were just happy stupid people bought the stuff for us!

I agree that Hasbro moving forward with embracing 3D printing technology in the hands of 3rd party designers and making them licensed is very forward thinking.

I believe that Hasbro recognizes the sheer amount of creative potential that exists in the world's 3D modeling community and sees an opportunity for a mutually beneficial business arrangement. At this time, many people are making some money through Shapeways, often creating unlicensed products. IP holders such as Hasbro have no input into these products design and sales. They also do not receive any compensation for the use of their IP.

By offering the opportunity for having work licensed through SuperFanArt, Hasbro is in effect able to attain control over 3rd party 3D printed products using some of their IP(people have to go through an application process to have their work sold through SuperFanArt). Also, via the licensing fee(approximately 11.67% of the printed product's price) that is taken out of the sales of the 3D products sold through SuperFanArt, Hasbro is to be financially compensated for the work using their IP.

So Hasbro gets some control back over 3rd party 3D printed products as well as some revenue. What does the designer get? Well, first and foremost, they get to have their work licensed and official. They are in effect freelance designers for Hasbro! That's pretty cool. As far as their compensation for their work, according to an example given by the CEO of Shapeways, designers get approximately 21.67% of the price of each unit they sell. As far as I understand, toy designers don't normally get a 21.67% cut of the profit that the toys they design make.

To me, SuperFanArt is the first phase in Hasbro's move towards preparing for the evolution of the toy industry. I agree with Aaron, 3D printing is not suitable at this time, and for the foreseeable future, for large scale mass production. However, it is an ideal method for "on-demand" toy production, which is what Shapeways facilitates.

It's exciting to think that We may see, in the relatively near future, Hasbro bridging the gap between them as the 1st party and us, the consumer, as the 2nd party, by minimizing the middleman(retailers). For at least some of their product, since it is manufactured and then delivered directly to the customer, Hasbro wouldn't have to deal with haggling and doing business with retailers in order to attain shelf space.

It's also exciting to think that Hasbro is essentially opening the gate to welcome 3rd party designers into the fold by offering a way to license their work. SuperFanArt could pave the way to a future where the unlicensed 3rd party industry could experience a significant shift in its existence due to designers going to work for Hasbro through a licensing program, especially when 3D printing technology improves.

I literally urinated myself twice during the discussion, I was so unable to cope.

soybean56

Fun episode, but I have to ask a question. How is Nerf Rebele a step forward for gender equality? It's a girls line directed explicitly at girls and is an explosion of pinks and pastels as per the norm for girls toys. Just curious why you think this is a great step forward, Vangelus? It seems to be your go-to example of toy companies needing to stop marketing boys vs. girls.

It's a blurring and taking down of what once was a very solid decades-long "this is boys toys" dividing line in a main IP of a large toy company, struck me as forward thinking and creating a clear marketed statement from the ground level up that Nerf's for everyone.

Fun episode, but I have to ask a question. How is Nerf Rebele a step forward for gender equality? It's a girls line directed explicitly at girls and is an explosion of pinks and pastels as per the norm for girls toys. Just curious why you think this is a great step forward, Vangelus? It seems to be your go-to example of toy companies needing to stop marketing boys vs. girls.

Also, the vitriol of MP Star Saber and Exhaust is hilarious.

Vangelus and TJ, you guys are silly with your Mandarake orders. Isn't only a $5 fee if your order is under $50, but you two will spend an additional $15+ to avoid a $5 fine. Silliness